PSCI 5303 Public Policy Making and Institutions (cross- listed in

Course
POEC and PA)
Professor Tom Brunell
Term Fall 2006
Meetings Wed 4:00 p.m.6:45 p.m. GR3.606

Professor’s Contact Information

Office Phone 972-883-4963
Office Location GR 3.818
Email Address tbrunell@utdallas.edu
Office Hours MW 11-12

General Course Information

Course
Description
Learning Objectives of the course are to understand the role that the institutions of
Objectives government play in the policy process, the linkages between these institutions
(Congress, Executive, Judiciary, Bureaucracy) and citizens (through
discussions of role of public opinion, elections and interest groups), as well as a
better understanding of the constitutional origins of the U.S. political system.
Course assignments aim to develop students’ analytical ability and oral
presentation skills.
There are 3 books to purchase for the class – Crafting Law on the
Required Texts & Supreme Court, Public Opinion in America, and Sizing up the
Materials Senate. The rest of the required readings are from journals and can
be found on JSTOR.org or at the library.
Course Policies
Grading o Class Participation/Weekly questions: 25%
(credit) o Discussion Leader/critical summary 25%
Criteria o Paper: 50%
Class attendance is required. You are responsible for all announcements and
Attendance
information given in class.
Weekly questions: Each week (when you are not leading discussion) you should
submit two discussion questions about the week’s readings. These questions will
Weekly
Questions be the basis for class discussion and will be used to guide how we address the
material each week. These questions are due by noon on the day of class. You will
post them to WebCT so that everyone can read them and think about them.
As a rule, no extensions are granted for written work. Unexcused late papers will
Late Work be penalized one full grade per day. However, in case of an emergency, contact the
professor as soon as possible to see if an exception can be made at the discretion of
the professor. Documentation will be required of any emergency.
Students should be attentive during class and be prepared to actively participate in
Classroom
each seminar. You are to treat your fellow classmates with respect and are
Citizenship
expected to listen carefully when others are speaking. Disruptive students will be

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 asked to leave and may be subject to disciplinary action.
The University of Texas System and The University of Texas at Dallas have rules
and regulations for the orderly and efficient conduct of their business. It is the
responsibility of each student and each student organization to be knowledgeable
about the rules and regulations which govern student conduct and activities.
General information on student conduct and discipline is contained in the UTD
publication, A to Z Guide, which is provided to all registered students each
academic year.

The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the

procedures of recognized and established due process. Procedures are defined and
Student described in the Rules and Regulations, Board of Regents, The University of Texas
Conduct and System, Part 1, Chapter VI, Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student Services
Discipline and Activities of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures. Copies of
these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean of
Students, where staff members are available to assist students in interpreting the
rules and regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-6391).

A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities
of citizenship. He or she is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well
as the Regents’ Rules, university regulations, and administrative rules. Students
are subject to discipline for violating the standards of conduct whether such
conduct takes place on or off campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties are also
imposed for such conduct.
The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic
honesty. Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute
integrity of the work done by the student for that degree, it is imperative that a
student demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic
work.

Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or omissions
related to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the
Academic submission as one’s own work or material that is not one’s own. As a general rule,
Integrity scholastic dishonesty involves one of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism,
collusion and/or falsifying academic records. Students suspected of academic
dishonesty are subject to disciplinary proceedings.

Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and
from any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the university’s
policy on plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course will use the
resources of turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible plagiarism and is
over 90% effective.
The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and efficiency of
communication between faculty/staff and students through electronic mail. At the
Email Use
same time, email raises some issues concerning security and the identity of each
individual in an email exchange. The university encourages all official student

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 email correspondence be sent only to a student’s U.T. Dallas email address and that
faculty and staff consider email from students official only if it originates from a
UTD student account. This allows the university to maintain a high degree of
confidence in the identity of all individual corresponding and the security of the
transmitted information. UTD furnishes each student with a free email account that
is to be used in all communication with university personnel. The Department of
Information Resources at U.T. Dallas provides a method for students to have their
U.T. Dallas mail forwarded to other accounts.
The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any
college- level courses. These dates and times are published in that semester's course
Withdrawal catalog. Administration procedures must be followed. It is the student's
from Class responsibility to handle withdrawal requirements from any class. In other words, I
cannot drop or withdraw any student. You must do the proper paperwork to ensure
that you will not receive a final grade of "F" in a course if you choose not to attend
the class once you are enrolled.
Procedures for student grievances are found in Title V, Rules on Student Services
and Activities, of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures.

In attempting to resolve any student grievance regarding grades, evaluations, or

other fulfillments of academic responsibility, it is the obligation of the student first
to make a serious effort to resolve the matter with the instructor, supervisor,
administrator, or committee with whom the grievance originates (hereafter called
“the respondent”). Individual faculty members retain primary responsibility for
assigning grades and evaluations. If the matter cannot be resolved at that level, the
Student grievance must be submitted in writing to the respondent with a copy of the
Grievance respondent’s School Dean. If the matter is not resolved by the written response
Procedures provided by the respondent, the student may submit a written appeal to the School
Dean. If the grievance is not resolved by the School Dean’s decision, the student
may make a written appeal to the Dean of Graduate or Undergraduate Education,
and the deal will appoint and convene an Academic Appeals Panel. The decision
of the Academic Appeals Panel is final. The results of the academic appeals
process will be distributed to all involved parties.

Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the
Dean of Students, where staff members are available to assist students in
interpreting the rules and regulations.
As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work
unavoidably missed at the semester’s end and only if 70% of the course work has
Incomplete been completed. An incomplete grade must be resolved within eight (8) weeks
Grades from the first day of the subsequent long semester. If the required work to
complete the course and to remove the incomplete grade is not submitted by the
specified deadline, the incomplete grade is changed automatically to a grade of F.
We will be using WebCT for the class, so you need to log on to WebCT regularly
Webct
and post your discussion questions there.
Disability The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities educational
Services opportunities equal to those of their non-disabled peers. Disability Services is

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 located in room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are Monday and
Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.;
and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The contact information for the Office of Disability Services is:

The University of Texas at Dallas, SU 22
PO Box 830688
Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
(972) 883-2098 (voice or TTY)

Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those reasonable
adjustments necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability. For
example, it may be necessary to remove classroom prohibitions against tape
recorders or animals (in the case of dog guides) for students who are blind.
Occasionally an assignment requirement may be substituted (for example, a
research paper versus an oral presentation for a student who is hearing impaired).
Classes enrolled students with mobility impairments may have to be rescheduled in
accessible facilities. The college or university may need to provide special services
such as registration, note-taking, or mobility assistance.

It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for such
an accommodation. Disability Services provides students with letters to present to
faculty members to verify that the student has a disability and needs
accommodations. Individuals requiring special accommodation should contact the
professor after class or during office hours.
The University of Texas at Dallas will excuse a student from class or other required
activities for the travel to and observance of a religious holy day for a religion
whose places of worship are exempt from property tax under Section 11.20, Tax
Code, Texas Code Annotated.

The student is encouraged to notify the instructor or activity sponsor as soon as

possible regarding the absence, preferably in advance of the assignment. The
student, so excused, will be allowed to take the exam or complete the assignment
within a reasonable time after the absence: a period equal to the length of the
absence, up to a maximum of one week. A student who notifies the instructor and
Religious Holy
completes any missed exam or assignment may not be penalized for the absence. A
Days
student who fails to complete the exam or assignment within the prescribed period
may receive a failing grade for that exam or assignment.

If a student or an instructor disagrees about the nature of the absence [i.e., for the
purpose of observing a religious holy day] or if there is similar disagreement about
whether the student has been given a reasonable time to complete any missed
assignments or examinations, either the student or the instructor may request a
ruling from the chief executive officer of the institution, or his or her designee. The
chief executive officer or designee must take into account the legislative intent of
TEC 51.911(b), and the student and instructor will abide by the decision of the

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 chief executive officer or designee.
Off-campus, out-of-state, and foreign instruction and activities are subject to state
Off-Campus
law and University policies and procedures regarding travel and risk-related
Instruction
activities. Information regarding these rules and regulations may be found at
and Course
http://www.utdallas.edu/BusinessAffairs/Travel_Risk_Activities.htm. Additional
Activities
information is available from the office of the school dean.

Paper Objectives and Guidelines

Substantive Expectations (Critical summary and discussion leader):

In the week that you lead the seminar discussion you will write a critical summary of
the week’s readings. This paper should be 5-7 pages double space typed. The object
of this critical review should be to identify the central issues that assigned readings for
the week address. Students writing papers will present their analysis in class (~15
minutes). To accommodate seminar discussion, the critical analyses will be due no later
than 24 hours in advance of seminar meeting time. Students shall post the paper on
webct for the other students at least 24 hours in advance of the class and the paper
author shall also place one copy in the instructor’s mailbox. In addition, you should be
able to evaluate different theories and approaches, identifying the relevant assumptions,
definitions, strengths, and weaknesses of each. Finally, you should be able to create a
critical, engaged argument, using the texts as evidence. The paper should take into
account the following questions:
1. What is the purpose of the readings, what is the theoretical concern, and what
concepts are developed?
2. What is being studied, i.e. what is the unit of analysis and the scope of the
study?
3. How is it being studied, in terms of what variables?
4. Are the conclusions suggestive or proven? Do the data support the inference?
5. What is the book’s significance? How does it fit into the literature?
6. How does the book challenge or add to our understanding of development?
7. What are the strengths and shortcomings of the book?

Students writing papers will present their analysis in class (~15 minutes) and help lead
discussion. The matrix for grading presentations is as follows:
· Presentation Style: (25%) (e.g. professional, well-organized, maintain eye
contact with audience, speak loudly/clearly/slowly, able to respond to questions
easily, time management)
· Content: (50%) (e.g. organized, logical flow, overview of issue provided, clear
arguments, supporting information provided, use of outside research, integrate
course material into presentation)
· Discussion Questions (25%) (provision of stimulating and relevant questions
relating your book to the other required readings)

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 Style Expectations

Format:
1. Use parenthetical citations. For instance: “Here we build on the work of Stafford (1980)
and Powers (1979) to ……….”

Then your bibliography looks like this -

Bibliography:
Stafford, David. Britain and European Resistance. Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1980.
Powers, James F. "Frontier Municipal Baths and Social Interaction in Thirteenth-Century
Spain." American Historical Review 84 (June 1979): 649-67.

According to The Chicago Manual of Style, "the full reference of a note, as in a bibliographic
entry, must include enough information to enable the interested reader to find it in a library,
though the form of the note need not correspond precisely to that of the library catalog."1

2. Use a 12 point font.

3. The text should be typed, double spaced, and have one inch margins.
4. Do not add extra spaces between paragraphs.
5. Number the pages.
6. Include a title page with your name, course title, and date.
7. Include a bibliography.

Style:
1. Include an introduction and conclusion with appropriate outlines and summation of the
main points of your paper.
2. Use topic sentences in your paragraphs. (Please – no two sentence paragraphs or two page
paragraphs!)
3. Do not use a casual tone. (For example, do not use contractions such as “can’t,”
“wouldn’t”, etc.)
4. Avoid speaking in the first person. (For example, “In this paper I will …”)
5. Spell check!

Sources:
1. Cite often. An overabundance of citations is always preferable to too few. Cite as if you
want the reader to be able to easily refer to your sources when you refer to facts, quotations,
and interpretations.

1
Chicago Manual of Style, 13th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982), 487.

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2. If someone else says it, you must give credit to him or her. If you repeat the author
verbatim, you must quote and cite the author. If you paraphrase his or her words, you must
cite the author. Failure to do this is plagiarism.

A good reference for writing standards and references is the Chicago Manual of Style.
If in doubt, please consult it.

Adapted from Duke University guidelines for writers

AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

Take time to make careful choices among -- and learn to use -- the research tools available
to you. You will probably find that your favorite Web search engine is not adequate, by itself, for
college- level research. Consult with your professor or a librarian. You may need to use
specialized research tools, some of which may require learning new searching techniques.

Expect to make trips to the library. While you can access many of the library's resources from
your home computer, you may find that you need to make several trips to the library to use
materials or research tools that are not accessible remotely. Of course you will be seeking the
best information, not settling for sources simply because they happen to be available online.

Allow time for gathering materials that are not available at UTD. The Interlibrary Loan office
can borrow articles and books from other libraries, but this process takes additional time.
Allow time for reading, rereading, absorbing information, taking notes, synthesizing, and
revising your research strategy or conducting additional research as new questions arise.

Sloppy note-taking increases the risk that you will unintentionally plagiarize. Unless you
have taken notes carefully, it may be hard to tell whether you copied certain passages exactly,
paraphrased them, or wrote them yourself. This is especially problematic when using electronic
source materials, since they can so easily be copied and pasted into your own documents.

Identify words that you copy directly from a source by placing quotation marks around them,
typing them in a different color, or highlighting them. (Do this immediately, as you are making
your notes. Don't expect to remember, days or weeks later, what phrases you copied directly.)
Make sure to indicate the exact beginning and end of the quoted passage. Copy the wording,
punctuation and spelling exactly as it appears in the original.

Jot down the page number and author or title of the source each time you make a note, even if
you are not quoting directly but are only paraphrasing.

Keep a working bibliography of your sources so that you can go back to them easily when it's
time to double-check the accuracy of your notes. If you do this faithfully during the note-taking

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phase, you will have no trouble completing the "works cited" section of your paper later on.

Keep a research log. As you search databases and consult reference books, keep track of what
search terms and databases you used and the call numbers and url's of information sources.
This will help if you need to refine your research strategy, locate a source a second time, or show
your professor what works you consulted in the process of completing the project.

You must cite direct quotes.

You must cite paraphrases. Paraphrasing is rewriting a passage in your own words. If you
paraphrase a passage, you must still cite the original source of the idea. For detailed
examples and a discussion, see Appropriate Uses of Sources.

You must cite ideas given to you in a conversation, in correspondence, or over email.

You must cite sayings or quotations that are not familiar, or facts that are not "common
knowledge." However, it is not necessary to cite a source if you are repeating a well known
quote such as Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you . . .," or a familiar proverb
such as "You can't judge a book by its cover." Common knowledge is something that is widely
known. For example, it is common knowledge that Bill Clinton served two terms as president. It
would not be necessary to cite a source for this fact.

These types of sources should be cited as well:

Printed sources: books, parts of books, magazine or journal articles, newspaper articles, letters,
diaries, public or private documents.

Electronic sources: web pages, articles from e-journals, newsgroup postings, graphics, email
messages, software, databases.

Images: works of art, illustrations, cartoons, tables, charts, graphs.

Recorded or spoken material: course lectures, films, videos, TV or radio broadcasts,

interviews, public speeches, conversations.

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Date Topic/Books Readings

8.23.2006 Introduction Syllabus

NO CLASS, I am at
8.30.2006
APSA conference
The Malapportioned Read Lee & Oppenheimer.
9.6.2006 Senate and it effects
on public policy

Representation and W. Miller and D. Stokes. 1963. "Constituency Influence in

9.13.2006 constituency Congress, "American Political Science Review 57: 45-56.
R. Erikson, N. Luttbeg, and W. Holloway. 1975. "Knowing One's
District: How Legislator's Predict Referendum Voting," American
Journal of Political Science 19: 231-246.
J. Kuklinski and R. Elling. 1977. "Representational Role,
Constituency Opinion, and Legislative Roll Call Behavior,"
American Journal of Political Science 21: 135-147.
D. J. McCrone and J. H. Kuklinski. 1979. "The Delegate Theory of
Representation," American Journal of Political Science 23: 278-
300.
R. Erikson. 1978. "Constituency Opinion and Congressional
Behavior: A Reexamination of the Miller-Stokes Data," American
Journal of Political Science 22: 511-35.

The President Hager, G. and Terry Sullivan. 1994. "President Centered and
9.20.2006 Presidency Centered Explanations of Presidential Public
Activity." AJPS.
Jon A. Krosnick, Donald R. Kinder. 1990. Altering the
Foundations of Support for the President Through Priming.
APSR, Vol. 84, No. 2. pp. 497-512
Revised Models of the "Rally Phenomenon": The Case of
the Carter Presidency (in Research Notes) Karen J.
Callaghan, Simo Virtanen. The Journal of Politics,
Vol. 55, No. 3. (Aug., 1993), pp. 756-764.
A "Presidency-Augmented" Model of Presidential Success on
House Roll Call Votes Cary R. Covington, J. Mark
Wrighton, Rhonda Kinney American Journal of Political
Science, Vol. 39, No. 4. (Nov., 1995), pp. 1001-1024.

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 President and D. Rivers and N. Rose (1985) "Passing the President's Program:
9.27.2006 Bureaucracy Public Opinion and Presidential Influence in Congress."
AJPS. 29: 183-196.
T. Sullivan (1990) "Bargaining with the President: A Simple
Game and Some Evidence." APSR. 84: 1167-1196.
T. Sullivan. 1991. "The Bank Account Presidency: A New
Measure and Evidence on the Temporal Path of
Presidential Influence." AJPS.
Response: Response to Sullivan's "The Bank Account
Presidency: A New Measure and Evidence on the
Temporal Path of Predidential Inflence" George C.
Edwards III American Journal of Political Science,
Vol. 35, No. 3. (Aug., 1991), pp. 724-729.
M. Eisner and K. Meier. 1990. "Presidential Control versus
Bureaucratic Power: Explaining the Reagan Revolution in
Antitrust." AJPS.
D. Wood and R. Waterman. 1991. "The Dynamics of Political
Control of the Bureaucracy." APSR
J. Aberbach and B. Rockman. 1995. "The Political Views of U.S.
Senior Federal Executives, 1970-1992. JOP.

Lobbying and interest Hall, Richard and Frank Wayman. 1990. "Buying Time: Moneyed
10.4.2006 groups Interests and the Mobilization of Bias in Congressional
Committees." APSR.

Austen-Smith, David and John Wright. 1994. "Counteractive

Lobbying." AJPS.

Baumgartner, Frank and Beth Leech. 1996. "The Multiple

Ambiguities of 'Counteractive Lobbying'. AJPS.

Austen-Smith, David and John Wright. 1996. "Theory and

Evidence for Counteractive Lobbying." AJPS.

Gopoian, J. David. 1984. “What Makes PACs Tick? An Analysis

of the Allocation Patterns of Economic Interest Groups.”
American Journal of Political Science 28(2):259–281.

Wright, John R. 1990. “Contributions, Lobbying, and Committee

Voting in the U.S. House of Representatives.” American Political
Science Review 84(2):417–438.

Brunell, Thomas. 2005. “The Relationship Between Political

Parties and Interest Groups.” Political Research Quarterly 58(4)
681-689.

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 Political parties H. McClosky, P. Hoffman and R. O'Hara (1960) "Issue Conflict
10.11.2006 and Consensus among Party Leaders and Followers." APSR. 54:
406-427.

I. Budge and R. Hofferbert (1990) "Mandates and Policy Outputs:

U.S. Party Platforms and Federal Expenditures." APSR. 84: 111-
131.

J. Coleman (1996) "Party Organizational Strength and Public

Support for Parties." AJPS. 40: 805-824.

Krehbiel, Keith. 1995. "Cosponsors and Wafflers from A to Z."

American Journal of
Political Science. 39 (4): 906-923.

Krehbiel, Keith. 1999. "Paradoxes of Parties in Congress."

Legislative Studies
Quarterly. 24 (1): 31-64.

Binder, Sarah A., Eric D. Lawrence and Forrest Maltzman. (1999)

"Uncovering the
Hidden Effect of Party." Journal of Politics.

Agenda setting Wood and Peake. 1998. "The Dynamics of Foreign Policy
10.18.2006 Agenda Setting." American Political Science Review 173-184.

Baumgartner and Jones. 1991. "Agenda Dynamics and Policy

Subsystems." Journal of Politics 1044-1074.

Jones, Sulkin and Larsen. 2003. "Policy Punctuations in American

Political Institutions." American Political Science Review

Policy making Charles E. Lindblom. 1959. “The ‘Science’ of Muddling

10.25.2006 Through.” Public Administration Review, 19: 79-88.

Jonathan Bendor. 1995. “A Model of Muddling Through.”

American Political Science Review 89(4), pp. 819-840

Paul R. Schulman. 1975. “Nonincremental Policymaking” in

American Political Science Review, 69: 1354-1370.

Bryan D. Jones; Frank R. Baumgartner; James L. True. 1998.

“Policy Punctuations: U.S. Budget Authority, 1947-1995”
The Journal of Politics 60(1) pp. 1-33

11
 Supreme Court Crafting Law on the Supreme Court, by Maltzmann, Sprigss,
11.1.2006 and Wahlbeck.
Public Opinion James A. Stimson. 1999. Public Opinion in America: Moods,
11.08.2006 Cycles and Swings. Boulder Co. Westview Press.

Begin student presentations

11.15.2006
Norpoth, Helmut, Jeffrey A. Segal, William Mishler and Reginald
11.22.2006 Influences on the Sheehan. 1994. "Popular Influence on Supreme Court Decisions."
Court APSR.

Flemming, Roy B. and B. Dan Wood. 1997. "The Public and the
Supreme Court: Individual Justice Responsiveness to American
Policy Moods." AJPS.

Spriggs, James F. II and Paul J. Wahlbeck. 1997. "Amicus Curiae

and the Role of Information at the Supreme Court." PRQ.

G. Caldiera & J. Wright (1988) "Organized Interests and Agenda

Setting in the U.S. Supreme Court." APSR 82: 1109-1127.

11.29.2006 Finish student presentations

12.1.2006 Paper Due

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